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Donald Trump has warned that every country that embraces the “anti-American policy” of the BRICS block of Nations will get an extra rate of 10 percent for exports, in a new threat at the start of a central week before the trade war of the US President.
Trump warned the BRICS group – which originally consisted of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, but has since been expanded – after they have met at the weekend. During a top in Rio de Janeiro, the group condemned military attacks on Iran and Unilateral rates, but did not mention the US by name.
“Every country that is in line with the anti-American policy of BRICS will be charged an extra rate of 10%. There will be no exceptions to this policy,” Trump posted on Sunday on his truth Social Network, without working out.
The threat comes when governments all over the world prepare for the end on July 9 of the 90-day break about the steep taxes that Trump announced on his so-called liberation day in April, when he also imposed a baseline 10 percent rate on the US trading partners.
The harder taxes were paused for 90 days to give room for conversations, but since then the White House has only hit three trading spacts – with the UK, China and Vietnam.
Dozens of countries, including top -american allies such as the EU, Japan and South Korea, have been left in the dark and are confronted with the renewed risk of high rates.
Trump has promised to send letters on Monday to countries that have not reached deals with the US and told them what their rate level will be from 1 August.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs hit back to Trump’s threat for the BRICs and said that the group stood for “openness” and “cooperation between emerging markets and developing countries”.
“There are no winners in a trade war or a tariff war and protectionism has no future,” the ministry said.
In a joint statement on Saturday, BRICS said financial ministers that they oppose the unilateral “increase in rates and non-tariff measures”, adding that they would “protect” the “on rules-based multilateral trading system.
Scott Bessent, the American Minister of Finance, said on Sunday that rates about import from some countries will be back “Boomerang” back to the steep levels of April, unless they quickly offer concessions and strike deals with Washington.
Speaking with CNN, he said that Trump would inform countries that would not achieve similarities with the US that higher levies on their imports would come into force next month.
“I’m not going to give the playbook away. We will be very busy for the next 72 hours,” Bessent said.
“President Trump is going to send letters to some of our trading partners who say that if you don’t move things, then on 1 August your Boomerang will return to your rate level of 2 April.”
Trump told reporters on Sunday evening that there would be ‘a combination of letters and some deals’ in the coming days.
“I think we will have most countries done before July 9, a letter or a deal,” said Trump, flanked by trade secretary Howard Lutnick, who repeated that the levies would come into force on 1 August. Later, about Truth Social, Trump said the letters would go out of the afternoon Eastern Time on Monday.
Stephen Miran, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said in the ABC network that he heard “good things” about the negotiations with Europe and India.
The first break of the Trump administration on the higher levies was forced by the unrest the planned rates that were dismissed in global stock and bond markets, where investors fear that American protectionism would make growth and fuel inflation.
Since Trump paused the higher levies, the stock markets have returned strongly while bond markets have been stabilized. The possibility of a fast return on extremely high rates for many countries could recover those worries.
